Sure, Iowa just throttled a wildly overmatched Maine team, 46-3. But how much do we really know? What was really important about beating Maine? What does it all mean, Basil? The Takeaway has the answer.
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There is no answer at quarterback yet. Both quarterbacks looked decent at times and brutal at others. Jake Christensen doesn't appear to have any touch on his throws, but when he's got time and an open primary receiver, he's lethal. The interception was a poorly thrown pass, and Iowa was lucky to come away with 15 yards off a pass interference penalty when he badly underthrew Brodell on a post.
But Stanzi, while appearing more "poised," threw some absolutely brainless passes yesterday. One ended up being a first down on an out to DJK, but a I-A defensive back would have taken it the other way for six. The other was a softly-thrown jump ball to a walk-on TE in the back of the end zone. In double coverage. Again, a real team picks that. Past that, while he was mostly steady in the pocket, the Iowa offense sputtered under Stanzi until the 4th, when even Maine had given up on using starters.
Neither player distinguished himself yesterday, and it's safe to assume Ferentz will be using both QBs in a similar rotation over the next few weeks until one proves to be substantially more effective.
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Adrian Clayborn is every bit the nightmarebeast we expected, and then some. Clayborn was all over the field yesterday, stuffing runs, harassing the Maine backfield, and making effective reads all game long.
Clayborn ended the day with eight tackles, leading all Hawkeyes. He also broke up two passes and, in one particularly telling instance, discharged his babies on Maine QB Adam Farkes' face.
Get your own fucking towel.
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Welcome back, Andy Brodell. Anyone who doubted Brodell's impact on Iowa's success no longer has an excuse for their ignorance. Brodell only caught one early pass for 16 yards, but he took an end-around 24 yards on the opening drive and registered 81 return yards, constantly placing Iowa in favorable field position. Again, this is just Maine, so he probably won't be averaging 15 yards per return. But he's very effective in space, a shifty runner who maintains momentum toward the goal line at all times. He'll have plenty of bigger days in the stat book than yesterday, but just seeing that he was the Andy Brodell of old was exciting enough for us.
Oh, and he's a vicious blocker.
That's nice too.
[Both photos credited to Matthew Holst, Iowa City Press-Citizen]